LONG BEACH >> MemorialCare Health System and Cedars-Sinai have formed a new investment company called Summation Health Ventures to find and assist startups in health-related fields, officials announced Wednesday.

The new company, to be headquartered in Long Beach, is a successor to the MemorialCare Investment Fund, which had a similar mission. The fund invested in several health care firms, and its portfolio includes such companies as AutoGenomics, a Vista-based developer of medical lab equipment, and Perfect Serve, which is a Tennessee-based company behind a communications platform for medical professionals.

Brant Heise will be managing director, the same position he held for MemorialCare Investment Fund. He said the new company is similar to a venture capital fund, with the exception that candidates for investments will be evaluated not only on their potential to generate a return on investment but also on their capability to develop products or services that would be beneficial to the hospital systems that own the new fund.

“I always describe ourselves as a much more strategic investment vehicle,” Heise said in an interview Wednesday.

Heise said the new fund has yet to invest in any companies in its own right, but he is seeking promising companies that produce information technology products for the health care industry. The fund could also be used to finance investments in medical device firms or companies that develop health care services.

“Patient-centered information technologies are essential tools to providing the highest quality of care,” Cedars-Sinai CEO Thomas M. Prisleac said in a statement.

Summation Health Care may invest in health-focused companies across the entire United States, Heise said. The fund will likely seek representation on companies’ boards of directors or advisers.

The Long Beach-based MemorialCare Health System and the Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai own an equal stake in Summation Health Ventures, according to Wednesday’s announcement. The hospital systems may accept additional partners in the future.

MemorialCare operates Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Miller Children’s Hospital and Community Hospital of Long Beach, as well other hospitals in Orange County.